The best Christmas campaigns of 2024

Christmas really is the time of giving. Enthuse found that over 40% of people are more likely to donate money to charity at Christmas than at any other time of year, with 43% of people actively looking for causes to support in December. 

 

So here’s our round-up of Christmas campaigns and festive fundraisers to inspire your charity.

 

 

Festive fashion

 

Wearing Christmas jumpers has become a fundraising mainstay, and a simple way for charities of all sizes to raise money. The most well-known event is Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. Held on 12 December in 2024, it saw millions of people up and down the country digging out their sparkly sweaters to raise money for children in the UK and abroad. The campaign encouraged sustainability, suggesting people buy second-hand or upcycle an old jumper. Even Shaun the Sheep got involved in 2024.

Transform Trade shows another side of Christmas jumpers: the people who make them. It asks people to stand with those who make millions of jumpers for the UK market, by calling on MPs to stand up for fairer fashion. The charity also frames its Christmas gift cards with the line, “This gift is not just another Christmas jumper”, drawing attention to the fact that most Christmas jumpers are only worn a handful of times. In contrast, a Transform Trade gift card can help fight for a more ethical global fashion industry.

 

 

The strength in storytelling

 

Maggie’s Christmas campaign is packed full of heart and hope. It shares Graeme’s story, who began treatment for a brain tumour two weeks before finding out he and his wife were expecting their first child. Through his story, he explains how the support he received from Maggie’s helped him: “Maggie’s gave me the starting blocks to put my life back together and realise it’s worth living.”

 

Maggie’s worked with creative agency, Yarn, to create the campaign. Using photos and video of Graeme and his family, alongside his own words, makes this an authentic, relatable and powerful message.

 

 

Dashing for donations

 

Dressing up as Santa is a fundraising winner and a much-loved event around the country – from the Beatson Cancer Charity dash in Glasgow to the Children’s Hospice South West’s dash at the Eden Project in Cornwall. Liverpool boasts the UK’s biggest and longest running Santa Dash in the UK. It had over 8,500 entries in 2024, eight charity partners, and individual runners supporting countless other charities. Registrations are already open for 2025.

 

Virtual Santa Dashes, run by Virtual Marathon Series, are also popular. These 5k runs allow people to fundraise anywhere and anytime during December – whether dressed as an elf at home, or Father Christmas at the gym. Charities including Bowel Research UK and Speech and Language UK are raising money this way.

 

 

TV ads raising funds and awareness

 

There are over 150,000 children living in temporary accommodation in England, and Shelter’s campaign highlights the reality for many. The ad, called “World of our Own”, shows a father trying tirelessly to protect his daughter from the reality of their grim accommodation by creating an imaginary planet for them to escape to.

 

 

The charity and creative agency, Don’t Panic, worked closely with people who have lived experience of temporary accommodation to create the campaign. The ad ends with the tagline: “Love alone can’t protect a child from homelessness, but your donations could.”

 

 

Collaborating with companies

 

We’ve talked a lot about digital inclusion and, in 2024, Virgin Media O2’s Christmas campaign shines a light on digital poverty. Created by VCCP, its integrated campaign leads with an emotive film, sharing the impact of data poverty in everyday situations – from a man struggling to study, to a woman unable to call her loved ones.

 

The campaign demonstrates how O2 is providing people with free data, through the Good Things Foundation’s National Databank. The campaign’s landing page is zero-rated, meaning it’s exempt from data charges and accessible to people experiencing data poverty.

 

 

The Christmas-only charity

 

Enthuse found that 52% of people surveyed are more likely to give ‘things’ at Christmas than at other times. And the Toy Hub in Hertfordshire is just one charity that taps into people’s generosity at this time of year.

 

Toy Hub aims for every local child to have a gift to open at Christmas, by providing parents and caregivers with unwrapped, age-appropriate gifts.

 

The charity works a bit like a pop-up, running for just six weeks each year. It asks for donations of new and like-new gifts,  and in 2024 has supported 639 children.